Men's Tennis Tops Regis 8-1
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's tennis team came away with an 8-1 victory in its home opener against Regis College in New England Collegiate Conference action on Tuesday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Courts.
Mitchell (2-0 overall, 2-0 NECC) swept through the doubles competition to take a commanding 3-0 lead into singles play. The Mariners then sealed the victory by winning at the top five singles spots to hand Regis (5-6 overall, 2-1 NECC) its first conference loss of the season.
Mitchell put the match away early in the singles portion, with senior Tyler Engleberg downing Andy White by 6-1, 6-3 finals at the No. 3 spot. Junior Rocco Devona then defeated Jeff Parrish by scores of 6-2, 6-1 to give the Mariners their fifth and match-deciding point.
The battle between freshmen Rajan Bawa and Michael Beluch at No. 1 singles was the match-up of the day. Beluch took the first set 6-4 and was up 5-1 in the second set before Bawa battled back. He fought off triple match point to win the game before rallying back to take the second set 7-6 in a 9-7 tiebreaker, setting the stage for a climactic finish. In lieu of a third set, the duo played a 10-point tiebreaker, with Bawa coming out on top by a 10-4 margin.
Bawa, Devona, Engleberg, and seniors Andrew Small and Alexander Fusco were all victorious in both singles and doubles play. Freshman Chris McKeon also picked up his first career doubles victory by teaming with Smalls at the No. 3 spot.
Regis picked up its lone win at No. 6 singles where Mouhamed Diallo defeated Randy Coons in a match that also went to a 10-point tiebreaker. Diallo took the first set 6-0 before falling 1-6 in the second, but rebounded to win the tiebreaker by a 10-6 count.
Mitchell will next host Lesley University on Thursday, April 5 at 3:30 p.m.
